Delaney & Bonnie were an American musical duo, singer song writers and a married couple known as Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett that fronted a rock & soul ensemble called Delaney & Bonnie & Friends in the late 60s and 1970s. The "Friends" part included a laundry list of legendary performers such as Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, King Curtis, and of course, Eric Clapton.

Delaney was from Mississippi and was an accomplished guitarist and singer. His earliest work included playing for the "Shindig!" TV series house band with Leon Russell. Bonnie was from Alton, Illinois, near St. Louis, and was an amazing singer performing with Albert King at 14 and Ike & Tina Turner at 19 years of age. She met and married Delaney when she moved to Los Angeles in 1967. The duo secured a recording contract with Stax in 1969 and released their debut album, Home.

Motel Shot is Delaney & Bonnie's fourth studio album released in 1971, their third release for Atco Records and their fifth album overall. The album's title refers to the impromptu, late-night jam sessions that touring musicians would get into while on the road. The album reached #No. 65 on the Billboard album chart and includes Delaney & Bonnie's biggest chart single, "Never Ending Song of Love," which peaked at No. 13.

Guest musicians on the album include Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Duane Allman, Dave Mason, John Hartford, Clarence White, Gram Parsons and Bobby Whitlock. The band attempted to record the impromptu jam session in engineer Bruce Botnick's living room but ended up doing it over in a recording studio. The eight tracks recorded here are mostly acoustic and the song choices are mostly traditional gospel, blues and country standards.